When I Look At You
by papergangsta143
Summary: Niley, Jemi, Kelena, many different couples. With secrets
1. Horrible Breakups

Joe walked into the small building with a disgusted grimace on his face.

"I can't believe this," he mumbled, bumping into a few children before finding his way to his favorite shelf and grabbing a pack of Sour Patch Kids.

He stared at the florescent box, thinking about all that had happened that day.

For over a year, he had Miley Sanchez, one of the most beautiful and popular girls in his small Junior class by his side. In the beginning, Joe was sickened by how all of the other boys treated her as if she was a piece of meat and they were dogs; staring and drooling. But over time, he had gotten used to it.

Once he was sure he loved her and that she loved him, he could care less about those freaks. Nothing was going to change between him and Miley.

Well, until now.

Only twenty minutes before he walked into the sweet smelling candy shop, Joe had found Miley and his now ex-best-friend, David, behind the bleachers,--how typical, right?--swapping spit.

He didn't want to believe it. After all, he was attached to both of them. One through love, one through friendship, and both through trust. They had broken that bond today, in just a matter of seconds; and Joe needed to get over it. He was never going to get emotionally close to anyone again, but at least he knew exactly how to cure his pain.

Soon after starting to walk to the checkout counter, he glanced behind him at the shelf, contemplating whether or not he should get more. He'd definitely be pigging out tonight.

After rushing back and grabbing a dozen more boxes of different candy,--mostly Sour Patch Kids--he made his way to the cash register.

As the clerk was ringing him up, Joe began thinking of Miley and…David again. He made a face, disturbed. How could his one and only best friend to such a thing?

"My hands aren't dirty, sir," the man behind the counter said, referring to Joe's grossed out face and handing him the bag.

He immediately snapped out of his thoughts and gave the man a grin, grabbing the nearly full-to-the-top sack.

Muttering a thanks, he headed back to the door. He couldn't wait to just get home and be alone with his candy, the only thing he loved now.

Just as the bell on the door rung, he heard yelling and a car door slam, but didn't think anything of it.

He was too drowned in his own thoughts to care.

"Sterling, why are we here?" Demi asked her newfound boyfriend as he parked in a store lot.

"I've gotta talk to you," He stated, turning off the car and staring into her eyes.

She smiled and looked down awkwardly. Was he really going to tell her he loved her already? If not, then what was he going to say?

"You know, this has been great, but…" _But? _"…I just cant do this anymore."

"Wha--"

"Just get out of the car."

"You're going to just leave me here?!" Demi exclaimed, appalled.

"GET OUT!"

Tears forming at the sides of her bright blue eyes, she opened the passenger door, "FINE!" she said, getting out and then slamming it shut.

What the hell just happened? Didn't Sterling _love _her?

She went to sit down on a wooden bench outside of the shop and as she watched him pull away, she began to cry.

For the first time in Demi's life, not once did she mind that she was alone in an unknown place, or that there was a boy walking in the opposite direction that could easily hear her crying. All she cared about was her heart and how it had just been broken.

At sixteen years old, she didn't know much about love, but she had definitely loved Sterling. She was sure of it.

Bringing her knees up to her chest, she started sobbing harder.

Demi couldn't very well go home like this, especially if her mother was there.

She was just going to stay there, on that bench, until she was well enough to go home. Which wasn't going to be for a _long_ time.

"Mom, I'm home!" Joe called out to his mother, Denise before slamming the front door behind him and racing up the many carpeted stairs that led to his bedroom.

The minute he stepped into the all-white room, he was in tears.

He said angry things about Ryan under his breath as he ripped open a box of sour patch kids and stuffed them in his mouth, "Fucking Tori," he whispered, mouth full.

7 boxes and 47 pixi stix later, Denise knocked on the door, but let herself in before he even responded and then eyed the various candy boxes scattered on Joe's floor suspiciously.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I don't want to talk about it," Joe responded grimly, struggling to stand up, "I need more candy."

He tried to make a run for the door, but his mom stopped him before he could.

"You only eat that much candy," she motioned towards the boxes, "when you're upset."

"Well not today," he sighed and pushed past her, "Bye."

It was very dark that particular December evening and there were at least 20 cars rushing down the road in different directions, but Joe was anything but scared to cross the street.

He really needed that candy, and he was going to get it one way or another.

He didn't even need a flashlight, he simply knew how to get there.

Joe quickly reached the familiar, small store; his second home.

But one thing wasn't very familiar about it and that one thing was starting to creep him out.


	2. First Meeting

**I need to know what people think! I know it kind of sucks so far, but it WILL get better..

* * *

**

Demi looked up from her pale hands to notice a shadow moving towards her. She knew she shouldn't have stayed out this late, but she just didn't have the nerve to head home. As the silhouette got closer to her, she pulled her knees up further near her chest and sighed, praying this person wouldn't harm her in any way.

When the figure got close enough to make out, Demi recognized the boy. He was the one at the store earlier that day, the one who heard her crying. But what was he doing back? Was he there to talk to her? He had to be. The store was _closed_. It had been for a little over an hour. Why? Why was he going to bother her? She buried her head in her hands again and wished he would just leave her alone.

"Hello?" She heard him say.

No such luck.

Even though he had noticed her and she had noticed him, Demi decided to just ignore him and thought that maybe he'd go away if she did.

"Uh, excuse me?"

Nope.

"What?" She snapped her head up once again.

The boy was squinting in her direction, walking just a bit closer to get a better view. It was then that Demi realized how cute he was, with his swooped, almost black hair that shined when the lights from the parking lot hit it and the way he walked with a certain stride that she adored. Demi snapped out of her thoughts before they got any more descriptive. She didn't want to be 'with' boys for a very long time. But she could at least talk to him.

"The stores closed," She announced and he got even closer.

"Then why are you still here?"

Wonderful. She couldn't explain everything just yet. If she did, she might start crying again, and her eyes had just recently dried. Why, why,_ why_ hadn't she just gone home?

"I don't know," she said simply, trying to think of a legitimate excuse of her being there, "I didn't want to walk home and I had no ride."

"So you were going to stay here…over night…?" He walked all the way over to the bench and sat next to her, "You could've gotten raped!"

Demi grinned at the boy as he laughed at his own joke. Their small town was _too _safe. Nothing tragic really ever happened there. There was no chance of her getting raped, even in a vacant lot in the middle of the night.

"Well, the truth is," She paused, "I could've walked home, I just didn't want to be there."

He cocked his head to the side, causing his hair to fall along with it. Emmie knew he was going to ask why, so she just went on explaining before he could even speak.

"My mom…isn't a very good one. I mean she cooks and buys me stuff…but when it comes to the emotional part of being a parent, she sucks. When I come to her, telling her my feelings, she just makes me feel worse, and with what happened today, she'd make me feel like shit. I probably could've gone home though. She's always out anyway."

Demi knew she sounded stupid. She always did to other people who didn't exactly know her mother like she did. They had to be in her place to understand exactly how it felt.

The boy lifted his legs up and pulled his knees to his chest, just like her. He set his head on them to the side so that he could still see her and then spoke in a curious tone, "What happened today?"

"I don't really want to talk about it," She responded quickly, "I'm Demetria, by the way, but you should just call me Demi, because I hate my full name."

"It's pretty," He said quietly, "I'm Joe, or Joseph. But I actually prefer Joe."

"Oh," Demi smiled slightly and then looked away.

For some reason, she was nervous.

"So how come I've never met you before?" Joe asked Demetria, causing her to turn back towards him. He just wanted to start a conversation. It didn't hurt to make a new friend.

"I don't come around here often. I probably go to your school, but I usually keep to myself."

"Oh.." He thought to himself for a moment, "Are you in any honors classes?"

"Mod 10, English," She responded, confused.

Joe grinned and lifted his head up, "I've noticed you before, you sit--"

_I'm the kind of guy that likes to bounce,_

_Yeah im the kind of guy, that's got a pet mouse_

_I'm the kind of guy that likes to scream _

_And all these other people want to do it like me_

Before he could finish his statement, the newest song (let's pretend its not the Jonas Brothers XD) blared from Joe's pocket.

Demi giggled as he pulled his phone out, embarrassed, and pressed talk, "What?!"

"Hun, David's waiting here for you," His mom said on the other end.

_Great._

"Mom, I don't want to talk to him."

"Oh come on honey!" She rose her voice slightly, but still sounded happy, "You guys get in the silliest of fights! Just come home!"

If Joe hated anything about his mother, it would be that she never left anything alone. No matter how small or large of a problem, it had to be solved as soon as possible. Since he was the complete opposite, wanting to let everything run its course and not actually confront his problems, he really disliked that his mom was like that. But since she was his mother, he had to obey her, even when she was annoyingly trying to work things out.

"Fine, I'll be home soon."

After hanging up, he looked at Demi apologetically, "I've got to go home, someone's waiting for me, but I could walk you to your house if you'd like, it's no problem. I really don't want to see this person."

"Oh, yeah, that would be great."

They stood up at once and Demi led Joe in the direction of her house, which was also in the direction of his. She stopped about 7 houses down from his at a tiny, white house with purple shutters. The curtains were closed and you could tell that the lights were off. The two walked up the pathway to the door and Demi tried to open it quietly.

"Shit," she muttered, "It's locked. I don't have a key."

Joe looked at the ground, counting all the bricks around him uncomfortably and then looked up, flipping his hair to the side.

"This may come off as creepy, but if you want, you could come over. I don't want you to have to wait out here all night."

To his surprise, Demi smiled and nodded. "Thanks!"

They walked down to his house which was almost identical to hers, except with navy blue shutters and a small porch that connected to the door.

When they got there, Joe saw David sitting on the top step of said porch, with his head in his hands, just as Demi's had been before.

He grabbed Demetria's hand and walked her toward his ex-friend.

"Hello, David."


	3. The Grey Family

David looked up from his hands the second he heard Joe's voice and stood up from the concrete step in which he was perched on.

"Look, Joe," He began, walking towards his used-to-be friend.

"If this is about Miley, I don't want to hear it," Joe spoke angrily, backing up. It was then that David noticed a petite brunette at Joe's side.

Did he get a new girlfriend already? How?

"But she made a move on ME!" He insisted, walking closer to him again. It wasn't exactly the truth, but if it got his friend back, he had to lie.

When David pulled away from the beautiful cheerleader that evening, he had no idea that he was doing anything wrong until he saw his friends devastated face staring back at him. The truth was, he couldn't control himself when Miley pulled him behind the bleachers. She was too perfect. And he also thought that she WANTED him, too. But when Joe left, he found out that all she pulled him back there for was to figure out what he thought Joe would want for Christmas.

He felt terrible.

"Oh please, you told me you liked her!! And you looked pretty into it when you guys were swapping spit back there!"

The girl beside him gave David a look of disgust as Joe continued, "So just go home! I don't need any explanations! I've seen enough!"

He pushed past David quickly, pulling the girl along with him.

"But--"

"GO HOME!" Joe yelled, slamming the door behind them.

That was all David could do now. Go home. Joe was never going to forgive him, and he had to live with that. At least no one at home knew what happened. By Friday, it would be all around the school.

"Sorry about that," Joe sighed, walking into the kitchen connected to his living room, "My life can be a little hectic sometimes."

He lifted the lid of a large cookie jar and grabbed a couple Oreos out of it, handing one out to Demi.

"You want?"

"No thanks," She said, out of it. She was caught up in a flashback of what happened with Sterling that day. The way Joe had just acted towards his friend was a lot like how Sterling had acted with her. But with them, David did something wrong, unbelievable, and caused Joe not to be his friend anymore. Demi did _nothing _to Sterling at _all_.

Joe pushed a chair out from under the table and motioned for Demi to sit down. She did, graciously, and then he did the same. As he was chomping on the second cookie, he asked, "You okay?"

"Yeah," she forced a smile as a middle aged woman with curly hair, the color of Joes walked into the room. Demi suspected this was his mom, but who knew, she could be his sister.

"Mom," Joe started--she suspected correctly--as the woman gave Demi a look of confusion, "This is Demetria. Demi, This is my mom."

"What happened to Miley?" His mom asked, "She was such a nice girl."

Demi looked around uncomfortably as Joe groaned."Miley and I broke up today, and I don't want to talk about why. Demi is my _friend_, mom. Not _girlfriend_. Okay?"

His mom smiled, "Well, its nice to meet you, Demetria. You're the first girl that Joseph has brought home that _wasn't _his new lover."

Demi laughed, not bothering to correct her on the name, "It's nice to meet you too."

"Well, you can stay here whenever you'd like. Everyone is welcome in the Grey household and everyone here respects everyone else."

Soon after she said this, a young boy with curly brown hair just like his mother's came running down the stairs two steps at a time. Once he got down to the kitchen floor, he scurried over to his mom and pulled at the bottom of her shirt.

"Mommy, I was trying to sleep and Nicky woke me up by putting that iron by my hair," The kid turned around reveling the straightened back of his head to his mother.

"Go lay down on the couch, honey. I'll take care of your brother," She turned the boy around and nudged him towards the living room lightly before yelling for Nick up the stairs.

"That was Frankie," Joe explained, "He's my youngest brother. Nick, or 'Nicky' is my other younger brother, and he tends to play tricks a lot."

As Joe was explaining, Nick ran down the stairs laughing, his curls bobbing with every step.

"Nicholas Jerry, what were you doing in Frankie's room while he was sleeping?" Mrs. Grey asked angrily, hands on her hips.

Nick grinned, glancing around at Joe and the girl he was with, "It was a joke, mom, I was bored. But I've got a better question. Who's Joe's new girlfriend?"

His brother rolled his eyes and looked at him, annoyed, "She's not my girlfriend, Nick. Her name's Demi."

"Hmm, not your girlfriend, eh? In that case…" He pulled a chair next to Demi and sat down, "'Sup?"

She stared at him, weirded out and Joe kicked him from under the table, "Cut it out, dude. She's not interested."

"I think she can speak for herself, Joseph!" He kicked him back and scooted closer to her.

"Doesn't matter, I know damn well she wouldn't be interested in you."

Nick stood up and got up in Joe's face, not wanting to be humiliated in front of such a pretty girl, and threatened to punch.

Before he could do anything, his mom grabbed his arm and pulled him back, "Go to your room, Nicholas. You're grounded."

He grunted and did as he was told, not wanting to get into anymore trouble than he was already in. As he was on the second stair, he looked back at Joe and glared. Why did his brother have to get all of the girls?

As soon as Nick made his way up the carpeted stairs, Demi checked her phone awkwardly and stood up.

"My mom's home," she declared, pushing her chair in, "I should go."

"Oh, uh, okay," Joe stood up with her and followed her to the door.

"I'll see you at school tomorrow," She smiled, leaning against the doorframe, facing him.

This moment was very uncomfortable for Joe. He had no idea what to do. But before he could even do anything, Demi was already walking to her house.

"Bye," he whispered.


End file.
